Ballistic Force(81)

Yulim frowned.

“You’re in on it?”

“I only pretended to be,” the cook insisted. “I played along, hoping I could get more details before I came to you.”

“And how long has this been going on?” Yulim demanded. “How long have they been plotting this?”

“Again, I don’t have that information,” the cook said. “They came to me earlier in the week. I stalled, pretending that I wanted more money than what they were offering, hoping that somewhere along the line they would trip up and give me more details. But beyond drugging the guards, they’ve kept the plans to themselves.”

Yulim quickly downed his drink, then said, “Who’s behind it all? No, wait. Let me guess. Prync Gil-Su? Is he the one?”

Ahn nodded. “I would say he’s the mastermind. At least, he’s the one I’ve been dealing with. I can’t say for sure who else is involved, but I’ve seen him hanging around with Vae Jae-Bong and a few others during rations.”

“Why tomorrow?” Yulim asked. “Why have they decided to try this tomorrow?”

“I’m afraid that’s my fault,” the cook said. “Prync came to me this morning and said they’d come up with a way to meet my price, or at least most of it. I was concerned that if I tried to stall any longer, they would take me out of the loop and try another way. So I agreed, and that’s when they said they want to do it tomorrow.”

“How did they propose to pay you?” Yulim demanded. “None of them has any money on them, and most of them were stripped of all their possession before they were sent here.” Before the intern could respond, a possibility occurred to the commandant and he quickly added, “Have they been siphoning opium from the fields?”

“Not that I know of,” Ahn said. “They claim to have some kind of currency on them, and said they’d be good for more once they were free.”

“In their dreams,” Yulim scoffed.

“I didn’t really believe them, but, as I said, I kept bartering in hopes I’d get more information,” the cook said. “As for them finally meeting my price, it has to do with one of the new prisoners. The businessman from the south.”

Yulim’s face flushed red with rage.

“Lim?”

“I think that’s his name. He promised to put up the money I asked for once he was back across the DMZ.”

Yulim glanced past the intern at the door to his bedroom. He’d had Lim’s daughter, Na-Li, brought to the bungalow after morning rations, figuring to repeat the ravishing he’d enjoyed with her the day before. He’d been interrupted before he could indulge himself, however, first by the call from Major Jin regarding the undercover agent from MII, then by this unexpected bombshell from Ahn. Now, in light of everything that was happening, the last thing on Yulim’s mind was sexual gratification. If anything, he was of a mind to haul Lim’s daughter to the mines and have her killed in front of her father as a way of punishing his treachery. But even that would have to wait. The MII agent was on his way over and Yulim could deal with only one crisis at a time.

Still, he couldn’t help but mutter out loud, “If Lim thinks he’ll ever see the other side of the DMZ after this, he’s very much mistaken.”

LIM NA-LI FELT nauseous as she sat at the foot of Yulim’s bed. Lying on the bed beside her was a set of red silk thong underwear with a matching bra and camisole. Yulim had told her to change into the garments, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. That had been more than an hour ago and she’d yet to touch the lingerie. The thought putting it on and being forced to parade around for the commandant’s amusement repulsed her almost as much as the thought of what he would do to her after he’d finished his ogling. She wept quietly, trying her best to take solace in the fact that the abuse would not go on beyond today. Just keep thinking about tomorrow, she told herself. Then she would be back across the border and this nightmare would be behind her. She would kiss the ground once she was back on South Korean soil, she promised herself, and never again would she take her freedom for granted.

Na-Li was beginning to wonder what was keeping Yulim when the bedroom door opened. The commandant stood in the doorway and stared at her.

“You didn’t change as I asked you,” he said.

Na-Li glanced at the lingerie, then looked back at Yulim, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I just—”

“No matter,” Yulim interjected. “It’s just as well, because there’s been a change in plans. The guards will take you back and you can spend the rest of the day in the fields with your mother.”